Step-by-step plan: How to start your own blog?
Posted on August 27, 2017 • 4 min read • 666 words
You want to show a little more of yourself, perhaps you have asked yourself: How do you start your own blog? Well, I can tell you that it’s not that difficult at all. It’s easier than writing texts for your blog.
To start a blog you need a few things:
- Inspiration
- Willpower
- Time
Yes, but, you might say, that’s not all I need, is it? No, that’s right. In addition to the above things, you also need technical resources. The most important thing is a place where you can post your thoughts or blogs.
In other words:
- Choose a cause/topics/market you want to write about
- choose a name for your blog
- Express commitment that you will actually write
- Choose where you want your blog to be located
- choose a theme or look for your blog
- start writing
- Make sure your blog is technically in order
- Make sure your blog is and remains relevant
These topics do not necessarily have to be in this order. You can of course already start writing or collecting ideas about what you want to write about.
Choose a cause/topics/market you want to write about
To write for a blog, you will need to have something to write about. This could be something you have experienced, but it can also be very specific. A technical subject, for example. VMGuru has (almost) only topics related to VMware and virtualization.
Choose a name
What do you want people to call and find your blog? It is useful if it tastes nice and is not too long. In my case it was obvious. A.J. are my initials and Elsinga my last name. If you want to make a brand of yourself, such a choice is useful
Express commitment that you will actually write
Seems obvious, but give it a try. I’ve had different blogs and ideas for ages. “I think it would be fun to write” and then nothing happens for months or even years. That is why I have now committed myself to publishing a blog every day. Not that it is completely possible now, but I have already written more in a short period of time than in the previous years.
Choose where you want your blog to be located
Do you want it to be easy and not have to worry about the technology of your website at all? Then it might be useful to choose WordPress.com. On the other hand, this does limit your options somewhat, at least the free options. If you have or rent your own server on the internet, you can do much more. I will return to the different choices in the future.
choose a theme or look for your blog
Just like the first and second points, this refers to what you want to radiate. Should it be playful or very businesslike? You can get good themes for your blog for little money, or sometimes for free.
start writing
This is perhaps the simplest. Start! What are you waiting for? You can write on the bus or train, while you are waiting at the doctor’s office or another place. As long as you have written something, you can publish it. We’ll talk about the do’s & don’ts when writing.
Make sure your blog is technically in order
There are many things that ensure that your website functions properly. Is it fast enough for your readers? Have all security updates been installed and so on. You will quickly be punished by your users and search engines if things are not technically correct.
Make sure your blog is and remains relevant
Go through your blogs regularly and check if they are still relevant. If not? Then update them, or write a new blog on the same topic.
Much more
Of course, there is much more that you should or can take into account. Think of social media, search engine optimization (SEO), but we will come back to that later.
